Illegal sublet now face being kicked out!

[*RainbowTears*]

Mornin CAGgers,

Approx 3 weeks or so ago, a young man who I'll call Mr Z, moved out of a homeless unit (due to his age) & into private renting (PR). He is working & paid weekly.

 

This PR is actually a room in a 4 bed house & is 1 of 2 rooms that the LL rents out.

 

On the day Mr Z moved in, he had to pay £150 which was 1 weeks rent & 1 weeks rent in advance.

 

There is/was no contract & Mr Z was verbally told the £75 is to be paid in cash & weekly, there after.

 

Fast forward 2 weeks, Mr Z starts a 2nd job (which will be paid monthly) & a few days later, Mr Z loses his 1st job which paid weekly.

 

So Mr Z asked his LL could he pay his rent at end of the month when he gets his wages from his "new" job. LL verbally agreed.

 

1 week on, the other T in the other room moved out owing rent of £110. This had nothing to do with Mr Z.

 

LL then approaches Mr Z & says that due to the actions of the other T, he now wants his rent money weekly on a Thursday.

 

Mr Z cannot do this as he lost weekly paid job & his main job is paid monthly. (He's due to be paid at end September). So LL has said to Mr Z to get out as he was only paid up until last Thursday!

 

Rent payments made so far are;

 

14/8 - paid £150

21/8 - paid £75

28/8 - paid £75

04/9 - paid £0 (as LL agreed week before to monthly payments)

 

 

This is where it now gets truly bad. As Mr Z has unfortunately found out, the PR room is actually in a Council owned property that the LL rents & is in receipt of HB for!!

 

The LL does not actually live in this Council property at all, he is in fact living with his partner in her house!

 

So benefit fraud is being committed by the LL & he is also subletting 2 bedrooms out to youngsters for cash.

 

Mr Z now finds himself in a truly awful situation & is now facing being made homeless as LL has told him he has to leave tomorrow.

 

Mr Z has no other place to go too. He also made a threat to LL saying he will go to the Council & basically "grass him up".

 

Which obviously hasn't helped his situation!

 

What can Mr Z do in his situation. It is quite urgent due to the current situation. So I am asking on his behalf as I'm trying to help him do this the right way....

 

Thanks Ev1...

[SabreSheep]

Sounds tricky.

I do not think he has much in the way of legal rights in regards to this tenancy. Sadly this is why noone should use verbal contracts when it comes to important things like renting etc.

 

Without being an expert I feel mr Z should speak to Shelter who would be able to guide him in the process of approaching the council to see if he is eligable for support and rehousing.

 

Without a doubt the LL is going to get caught out.

[king12345]

I would change the locks and contact the council asking for an officer to attend.

They would immediately terminate the "LL" tenancy as he's not living there and subletting, thus committing benefit fraud.

And if he comes at the door Mr Z could call the police as he would feel intimidated.

If I recollect a similar case, the council would give 7 days to evacuate the property or even get the tenants stay if they qualify for council accommodation, but I am not too sure of this.

[SabreSheep]

Unless mr Z qualified to be at the top of the council waiting list, permanent stay to reside there is not going to happen.

[*RainbowTears*]

Unless mr Z qualified to be at the top of the council waiting list, permanent stay to reside there is not going to happen.

 

 

Many thanks for all the replies so far..

 

Mr Z is a single young man, he has in the past approached the Council, as he was given his Eviction notice from the Homeless shelter, (at which he had lived in for past several years) as when you turn a certain age you have to leave there..

 

So Mr Z went to the Council with his Eviction notice & they were not interested as he's a young man on his own. The only thing they could suggest was for him to find a room & PR..

 

This he did in fact do just a little over 3 weeks ago & now finds himself in a right mess.

 

I did at the time warn him about getting a contract as without one he would have no rights. But as Mr Z had to leave the Homeless shelter by end of September, he jumped at the chance of this offered room.

 

As no other form of housing was offered anywhere else!

 

Which I get, he was in a fix as he had to leave & at that point any place would have done.

 

Mr Z is in a worse situation now though, as he is illegally sub letting in a LL unoccupied Council house & now faces being kicked out. (as per my OP).

 

So I will advise him to speak to the LA Housing office & Shelter but either way it's not looking good for him. He is looking at being out on the streets once again!!

 

Ive told Mr Z he needs to keep in his job as without one he is totally sunk, but he doesn't get paid until end of Sept!!

 

I know he's up sh*tcreek without a paddle,

I really wish I could do more for him, but he is miles away from me.

 

I find it so sad how a young man whose trying to get his life on track & as he's just finally found a good paying job & now is facing being Homeless & the Council won't help him as he is NOT a priority!!

[Conniff]

I would change the locks and contact the council asking for an officer to attend.

They would immediately terminate the "LL" tenancy as he's not living there and subletting, thus committing benefit fraud.

And if he comes at the door Mr Z could call the police as he would feel intimidated.

If I recollect a similar case, the council would give 7 days to evacuate the property or even get the tenants stay if they qualify for council accommodation, but I am not too sure of this.

 

 

I agree with this post.

[*RainbowTears*]

I agree with this post.

 

Thanks Conniff,

 

I still dont get what locks is Mr Z ment to change?

 

As he is renting a small bedroom within the house & not the house as a whole.

 

Mr Z room does not have a lock on it either as it seems "others" have been in there going through his personal belongings...

 

He also has no money right now to afford to buy food etc... I've had to lend him some for now.

 

I will talk to him in the morning about going to speak to the LA Housing office & see what they can/can't do for him..

 

Many thanks again to you all!!

[king12345]

Front door lock and give spare keys to other tenants.

A local handyman can do this in 10 minutes and £20

[ashmk]

Go to the council and grass this person up. They might point your friend in the right direction to get himself a legit room.

[citizenB]

Rainbow tears, is there an update on this ?

[*RainbowTears*]

Rainbow tears, is there an update on this ?

 

Thanks for asking CB.

 

I did speak with Mr Z & passed on the suggestions made on this thread.

 

Mr Z knew he was in a very bad situation without many choices & he did not want to end up homeless again.

 

So he spoke to the LL & basically used the fact that he was illegally subletting as a way of getting the LL to agree to accept him paying monthly & not evicting him.

 

I know this wasn't ideal but Mr Z felt so desperate as he had been back to the Council Housing & they didn't want to help him in anyway.

 

As he is now 22 & no longer a youngster at risk (he was in the Homeless unit from age 16 until he had to leave just after he turned 22 last year). He went from having so much support in there to absolutely nothing at all & the Council didn't want to know.

 

He has also since this time, been saving up what he can from his wages, to enable him to get out off there into the PR sector.

 

Hopefully in the near future this will become a reality for him...

 

I'm still helping him as & when I can, to make sure he is doing okay.

[citizenB]

As you say, not ideal, but for the time being he has a roof over his head.

 

Has he contacted shelter? http://england.shelter.org.uk/?_ga=1.45334436.1495138208.1422644260

 

They might be able to put him in touch with an agency that would be able to help.

 

I am assuming you have contacted Housing Trusts/Associations ?